


Into The Water

by quackers



Series: The Kelpie [2]
Category: Buzzfeed Unsolved (Web Series), Watcher Entertainment RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Urban Fantasy, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Beach Sex, Kelpies, M/M, No Angst, Plot What Plot/Porn Without Plot, Semi-Public Sex, references to drowning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-02
Updated: 2020-07-02
Packaged: 2021-03-05 06:02:24
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,021
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25039699
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/quackers/pseuds/quackers
Summary: Ryan spends a romantic evening on the beach. With his kelpie boyfriend.- A continuation of Third Time's A Charm. Reading it first is recommended, but not required. -
Relationships: Ryan Bergara/Shane Madej
Series: The Kelpie [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1812637
Comments: 10
Kudos: 142





	Into The Water

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Heliantha](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Heliantha/gifts).



Ryan loved the ocean at night.

Like most of the things he loved, he was also terrified of it.

The hushed roar of the constant waves and the distant cries of seagulls as they fought over something in the last lingering rays of the setting sun were peaceful, but he could never entirely forget the sheer power of the ocean. Maybe it was the unknowable nature of the depths or maybe it was the mystery of what could be lurking underneath the surface that always made a shiver crawl over his body.

Or maybe it was the memory of nearly drowning that scared him.

Despite the direction his thoughts had taken, Ryan tilted his head back and closed his eyes, enjoying the light drops of water from the surf that fell on his face and the cool breeze that played over his exposed skin. He was sitting on the bottom step of the last lifeguard tower on the beach as he waited, trying to quiet the nervous butterflies that were having a party in his stomach.

His boyfriend- _fiance_ \- had something planned, but hadn’t said a word more than telling Ryan to stay put after the beach closed and the last of the stragglers had been shooed away. Ryan didn’t think he had much of a reason to be worried, but the thrill of anticipation had made the work day drag.

He had an inkling of what Shane had planned, and if it was what he thought it was, his evening was going to be magical. Literally.

“Come here often?”

Ryan snorted at the bland line, trying not to show how much it had startled him. “Daily,” he wryly said to Shane as he stood up. The keys to his car and his house were on a lanyard and they clinked against each other on his chest, a reminder that he left his wallet and shoes in his car. If they came back from this mystery outing with his car broken into and his stuff missing, he was going to make sure Shane never heard the end of it.

Eyeing Shane’s ‘innocent’ grin and the spark in his eyes that could barely be seen in the darkness, Ryan hoped he was going to come back at all.

He trusted Shane more than he had trusted anyone in his life, but now that he was ‘in the know’, he sometimes wondered if the hungry glint he occasionally saw in the man’s expression had more to do with literal hunger than anything sexual.

His heart drummed in his chest, and he knew Shane probably had an idea of how nervous he was, but Ryan had never let a little thing like nerves or self-preservation instincts get in his way before. He leaned up, his toes pushing and digging into the warm sand as he pressed a kiss against Shane’s cheek. Light scruff rubbed against his lips and there were dark bags under Shane’s eyes. He wasn’t wearing his glasses, and from the way he was squinting, he must not have been wearing his contacts, either. The man looked like he hadn’t slept in the past few days and Ryan knew just how true that really was. Shane had some big project coming up at his job, and tonight’s outing was just as much for him as it was for Ryan.

Ryan leaned back, studying the tired lines and tiny imperfections of Shane’s face, smiling softly when his boyfriend raised an eyebrow at him. “You look so normal,” he murmured, wonder giving way to a teasing grin when he realized half-way through how that sounded.

Shane’s other eyebrow went up to join the first. “Wow, just what every man wants to hear from his fiance,” Shane scoffed. “Normal. Thanks.”

“You’re so boring I want to fall asleep just looking at you.”

“That’s, like, the most romantic thing anyone has ever said to me.” Shane’s small smile gave him away as he took Ryan’s hand and began to lead him down the beach. A small drawstring bag was hanging off one shoulder and the contents rustled as they walked.

Ryan cast a quick glance at it from the corner of his eye, his cheeks growing hot and a thrill of potential dropping into his gut as he imagined what could be in the bag. It was probably nothing, he told himself. An extra change of clothes, or food in tupperware, or something completely innocent.

Not anything _dirty_.

He turned his attention back to their conversation, the light-hearted banter giving way to a quiet conversation about how their day had gone and some of the more annoying or amusing moments. It grew as dark as it ever did while so close to neighborhoods and light pollution, though it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. On the other side of the rocky outcropping that ended the beach, Malibu lit up the night sky like a beacon and would have ruined their sight. Shane’s hand began to grow sweaty against his palm.

There were homes right above the bluffs that lined the beach, and it wouldn’t be impossible for someone to look out towards the ocean and see them. If Shane was about to do what Ryan suspected…

Sure enough, before being too close to the rocks would make swimming dangerous, Shane stopped in the surf, his jaw clenching every time the water rushed up over his ankles.

Ryan squeezed Shane’s hand. He didn’t entirely understand what being in water felt like for Shane, but he knew enough to know that natural bodies of water made the guy want to lose all control.

“Shane?” Ryan prompted after a minute of them staring out over the ocean. He would be disappointed but fine if Shane wanted to leave, but they needed to get the show on the road before someone patrolling showed up to chase them off the closed beach.

Letting out a long, rough breath, Shane decisively shrugged the bag off his shoulder and handed it to Ryan. “Don’t lose that,” he said, stepping further into the waves as soon as Ryan had a grasp on the strings. “My keys are in there.”

“But what if I want to watch you break into your house?”

Shane was already up to his waist. He didn’t look back once. Ryan would have been jealous of the pull that water held over Shane if he didn’t know it was literally magic. “What makes you think you’d be around to see it?”

A shiver crept up Ryan’s spine, and for a brief second he thought of teeth made to rip and tear. Then he shook his head and followed Shane out into the water, sure-footed against the pull of the waves. The surf was warm from the heat of the day and it was freeing to be there without his whistle or the flotation device he normally used while working. He didn’t have to worry about Shane suddenly drowning.

He only had to worry about himself.

A pair of wet swim trunks flew through the air and nearly hit him in the face. He dodged with a laugh, picking up the floating clothing and flinging them farther onto the beach and hoping they’d still be there when they came back. “This isn’t a nude beach!” he shouted, adrenaline pumping as he saw that Shane was already far enough out that he was treading water, his head bobbing above the waves.

Whatever Shane might have responded with was lost as he went under. Instinct, training, and years of being a lifeguard made Ryan take a step forward, abruptly sure that he was going to have to perform a rescue. But he bit his lip and managed to stay still, reminding himself that, well, Shane _could breathe water_.

He couldn’t see what was going on under the water, other than vague shapes and movement, which was a little disappointing. He had only seen the full transformation once and every moment was etched into his memory, but he desperately wanted to see it again. Preferably in the daylight.

That wasn’t ever going to happen on a public beach, though. The risk of someone seeing what Shane was was too great.

After a long moment that felt like an eternity, an equine head broke the surface, water flung everywhere as Shane shook his mane.

That same sense of awe and fear that had overcome Ryan the first time he had witnessed this washed over him. He couldn’t help himself as he stumbled closer, barely remembering to pull his keys off his neck and drop them into the bag before slinging it onto his back. Familiar weightlessness buoyed him as he pushed off and swam towards Shane, the beach dropping out from under his feet, the only thoughts in his brain focused on getting closer.

A warbling whicker that sounded creepily like a laugh greeted his obvious, clumsy interest, then a warm, wet nose was pressing into his hand.

At first glance, in the dark of the night with only the lights from the shore and the stars to see by, the creature in front of him was nothing more than a horse. A horse swimming in the ocean, which was odd, but wasn’t anything strange.

Ryan’s memory filled in all of the little details that would have marked this particular horse as chillingly wrong. Wet, slick skin that was more like seal’s stretched too tight over a skeleton that wasn’t _quite_ right for a horse. A mane that twisted and tangled like dead kelp. Eyes that were too far forward and too dark. Gashes in the neck that fluttered just like gills.

Sharp teeth that would have made a shark envious.

All of the unsettling fear of knowing the horse in front of him was a dark fairy tale come to life was nothing compared to the sheer joy that Ryan felt when the creature he was in love with turned his neck, offering up a long, broad back.

He thought he knew how hard it was for Shane to offer.

Ryan didn’t think twice. Careful of the strong legs and hooves churning the water under them, Ryan clambered on less gracefully than he could have, but in his defense, he didn’t often get on horses while in the ocean.

He also didn’t often ride bareback, but even with a saddle- something he would have never done- the ribs under his thighs were again wrong in ways he couldn’t really explain. Ryan had spent multiple summer vacations with horses, begging his parents to let him go again year after year until the allure of high school basketball finally distracted him from his obsession. He knew the gait and feel of how a horse moved, but there was something sinuous and smooth about the way Shane swam, as if he was double jointed or somehow articulated like a snake.

It would be so easy for Shane to lower his head and dive smooth and deep into the water. They were already far enough out that Ryan wouldn’t have stood a chance at trying to escape.  
Without realizing it, he squeezed his legs and wrapped his fingers in the tangled mane in front of him in some kind of instinctual effort to stay on top.

Shane curved his neck, snorting as he head dipped into the water when he nipped at Ryan’s knee. There had been plenty of space between the clash of teeth and skin, but Ryan squawked in alarm and smacked his hand against the broad expanse of Shane’s flank anyways. “Shane!” he yelped. “Don’t do that!”

He couldn’t actually see the look that Shane gave him- not that he could really make out a horse’s expressions- but he knew the man too well not to have an idea of what he was thinking. So he smacked Shane’s shoulder again, giggling over the high of what they were doing and the adrenaline of trusting a predator in the deep water.

Before he could start to feel any honest worry that he really was about to be killed in the great expanse of the depths, Shane changed the direction he was swimming, angling towards a cove in the jagged cliff that was barely more than a half circle of sand. It was only accessible at low tide if one didn’t want to rock climb, and even drunk idiots looking for an adventure would hesitate to try and make it there at night.

It was as private a place as they could be found, and a thrill made Ryan’s chilled fingertips tingle as he realized what that could mean. Getting to see Shane like this had already made the night memorable and special, but he had a strong suspicion that there was more planned.

He _may_ have been thinking with his dick, though.

The waves grew choppier and rougher as they drew closer to land, but Ryan held on and trusted that Shane could get them there safely. The shock of one hoof and then the other hitting sand reverberated through both of them before Shane was stepping up onto the small beach, water cascading off of him as he came out of the surf.

Ryan didn’t want to dismount. A small, childish, selfish part of him wanted to stay on the back of the actual-god-damn-kelpie, regardless of said kelpie being his boyfriend. He had too many years of questioning his own sanity to deal with to want to give this up so easily.

Shane let out a long huff, skin shivering as if trying to tell Ryan to get with the program.

Taking a deep breath, Ryan swung one leg over and slid down to the wet sand, laughing to himself when his hand remained stuck in Shane’s mane. “I’m going to cut all of this off,” he said, his voice more high-pitched and shaking than he liked to admit.

Back on his feet, he was able to see more of the creature he had been riding. The tough skin and lean lines of a hunter. Large, black eyes that shone in the darkness. There was muscle in the proud arch of Shane’s neck and long legs. Ryan knew he would never stand a chance if Shane decided to make him disappear without a trace.

As soon as his hand was free and he had taken a step back, there was a missing blink, a series of images stuttering over his vision as Shane went from tall, predatory horse to tall, goofy human. The process was nauseating and unnatural to watch, but Ryan didn’t think he would ever look away. It was all too fascinating.

“Do you think that would cut my real hair?” Shane asked, affecting nonchalance as hard as he could. Considering his shoulders were hunched forward and he wouldn’t meet Ryan’s eyes, it was clear he was still convinced that Ryan was terrified of him.

Ryan _was_ terrified of him, obviously, but that had never stopped him before. He took a step forward, curling his hand around the back of Shane’s water-chilled neck to pull him down for a kiss. “‘Real’? You saying the stuff you have as a horse is fake? And how should I know?” he eventually asked when they finally came up for air, voice strained as he tried to say too much at once. “You’re the actual fairytale here, not me.”

Shane blinked down at him, his mouth half-open and his expression dazed. “I’ll show you a fairytale,” he muttered automatically. He was a collection of long lines painted in shadows against the white of the sand, his eyes reflecting the stars and moon in a way that wasn’t quite natural.

Even human, there was something fantastical about Shane, and Ryan wondered how he had ever missed that.

Of course, most of the time Shane was just as much of an obnoxious, self-doubting, occasionally aggravating, _regular_ person that it was easy to forget he was a little bit more.

“So what are we doing here?” Ryan asked, his own impatience and the warmth from Shane’s mouth having come together to make him finally blurt the question. “There’s easier places to get to for stargazing.”

“Well,” Shane said, nervously rubbing at the back of his head. He looked like he thought Ryan was going to be disappointed by nothing more than a quick trip, but Ryan would never turn down an opportunity to see Shane as he truly was. “Anything, really? Anything that we can do with only some sand and rocks, anyways. But I was kind of thinking…” He trailed off, cleared his throat, then made a gesture between the two of them.

Ryan stared at him, enjoying watching him squirm.

Shane rolled his eyes and made another gesture towards Ryan’s back. “I’m just saying, you’ll find some goodies in the bag.”

“Sex goodies?”

“Sex goodies.”

Curious, Ryan shrugged the drawstring bag off his shoulder and opened it to see a handful of ziplocked bags. On top was the kind of thin ‘emergency’ beach towel that barely took up any room when folded, but under that was a handful of condoms, a bottle of lube, and a travel size package of wet wipes. And two protein bars and Shane’s keys.

“Like a to-go bag for beach fucking,” Ryan muttered to himself, ignoring Shane’s snort of laughter and not surprised by how turned on he was just by the evidence of how prepared Shane was.

He dug into the pack to pull out three of the condoms, grinning at Shane. “Just how long do you expect us to be here?”

Shane gestured down his naked body, where moonlight barely showed how sand was already sticking all the way up his calves. “The sand really does get everywhere. I assumed you didn’t want it stuck on your dick if we fuck, but sure, make fun of me for thinking ahead.”

Ryan took a second to think of that. “You know what? You’ve got a point.”

And then he dropped the condoms into the bag, dropped the bag, and pulled Shane back into a rough kiss. He had been waiting for this all day and only the mortification of being in public on a family beach had kept his shorts from being indecent. Wet swim trunks didn’t leave much to the imagination if there was a boner involved.

He crowded into Shane, their wet chests sticking and sliding together. It was a clammy, gross sensation and Ryan couldn’t have cared less. All of his attention was on the way the inside of Shane’s mouth tasted like the ocean. Salty brine and copper and seaweed.

God, he had never kissed Shane so quickly after a transformation and apparently he had been missing out. Would he taste different if he had been in a lake? A river?

Sliding his hand up Shane’s back to steady him, Ryan rose onto his toes, pushing further into the kiss and bending the man nearly backwards in his sudden need for more. Shane was too tall for it to be comfortable for either of them, but he never seemed to mind. He went with the motion, wrapping his hands around Ryan’s upper arms and letting out a soft swear against Ryan’s lips. His teeth drug down Ryan’s tongue and the surprised moan made both of them lean back, trying to catch their breath.

They were pressed together so close that Ryan could feel the shape and heat of Shane’s cock against his hip and he realized that his own wet swim trunks were getting in the way.

“Towel,” Ryan said, voice huskier than before. The wonder was overwhelmed by the growing arousal, and the word came out more command than suggestion.

He didn’t need to see Shane’s eyes to know they would be dark with want and matching excitement. And there was more than enough light to see Shane’s eagerness in the way the man fumbled with unzipping the bag that held the towel, in the way he practically threw the towel on the ground and then himself on top of it.

Ryan’s laugh was low as he stepped out of his trunks, leaving them where they lay. It was hard to make out more than the outline of Shane on his back, legs spread. But Ryan could see the movements of Shane lazily stroking his dick, and he went to his knees between Shane’s thighs with a quiet noise of negation, grabbing the man’s wrist and squeezing once in warning.

“You don’t get to touch yourself,” he murmured, overly aware of the softness of Shane’s inner thighs brushing against his legs. Shane let out a long, quiet sigh that was barely heard over the crash of waves as he stretched out both arms above his head, relaxing back into the grasp of the wet sand.

He loved when Shane got like that, giving up control to Ryan, relying on him to take care of everything. It had always been a heady sensation, but upon realizing that Shane was so much more than he had first thought, Ryan was often astounded that Shane trusted him so utterly.

Now that he knew just how many of the myths and legends were true, it would be so easy to betray Shane. Either with a silver-studded bridle or video evidence that only a few would believe, but it only took one person to try and capture a real-life kelpie. Not that Ryan _wanted_ to do anything to hurt him, but there was no way for Shane to know that.

No, Shane had to believe in Ryan, and that was a daunting responsibility that thrilled and scared Ryan in equal measures.

Shane shifted in an aborted, languid roll of his hips, drawing Ryan’s attention back to the present. “You just going to stare at me all day? It’s not like you can really see me.”

“I can see enough,” Ryan said, bending down to kiss the center of Shane’s collar bone, darting his tongue out to lick off the salt and ocean water that beaded the skin under his lips. He braced himself with one arm, but his other hand was sliding up and down Shane’s side, caressing and stroking without coming close to the cock that lay hard on Shane’s stomach. Each kiss and swipe of his tongue brought him farther down, over nipples that were pebbled in the cool breeze off the ocean and ribs that stuttered with each quiet, muttered swear above him.

Even though he had had every intention of teasing Shane until he finally said something, Ryan gave in to his own impatience and shuffled down, his fingers leaving sand and grit along Shane’s thighs when he pushed them wider. He bent his back to lick and suck cock and balls with the same amount of attention, familiar with what would make his fiance go wild the fastest.

Most of the time, Shane was one of the quietest lovers Ryan had ever had. Something about their current situation was already drawing shaking breaths and whispered, drawn out moans from him, and Ryan had to wonder just how much Shane had thought about this night. Had he been thinking about it all day, just like Ryan had? Had he gotten himself off to the idea of taking Ryan to this spot in the dark of the night, where no one else could go?

If so, it was romantic as _fuck_ and Ryan didn’t have any sense of shame at how much that turned him on. And he was never going to let Shane forget that he had orchestrated something so sweet.

Shane made a noise that was half a groan and half a garbled word. “Fu- Ryan, I’m close-”

Ryan smacked the outside of Shane’s thigh, just hard enough to make it loud. He straightened up, licking the saliva and precome off his lips before saying, “Not yet. Be good.”

“Please-”

“How do you want this?” Ryan squeezed Shane’s leg, feeling the way tiny particles of rock and sand scraped against his fingertips. “You weren’t wrong about sand getting everywhere.”

There was a moment of silence, then Shane flung one hand towards the bag that lay a few feet from them. “Get the stuff and fuck me. I’m already good to go.”

Ryan didn’t mean to make a noise at that, but it spilled out of him before he could stop it.

“Why do you think I was late?”

Fuck, Shane really had planned everything out.

Squeezing again, Ryan answered that with, “Ride me.”

“I…” Shane trailed off. Ryan waited for the inevitable joke, the one about positions being reversed and how it had just been Ryan doing the riding. But the joke never came. Instead, Shane seemed to be thinking. There was a slight movement, a tilt of his head, and his eyes caught and reflected the light. It occurred to Ryan that he had just told a predator, a force of nature, what to do.

“Yeah,” Shane said softly. “Okay.”

They scrambled to change positions, to go through the mundanity of trying to wipe sand off their hands and finding the lube and a condom. The break in tension should have seen them relaxing, and while there were half-conscious jokes that neither of them paid attention to, the air seemed to thicken with anticipation.

Ryan’s every nerve was alight as he lay down on the towel, fitting into the impression that Shane’s body had made. Shane settled over him with none of the hesitation that he normally did in this position.

Ryan had just enough time to register the press of Shane’s knees against his sides and legs along his thighs and then Shane was reaching for his cock with a lube-covered hand, only stroking enough to get him harder, to make him just barely slick enough.

Surprised, words of praise caught in Ryan’s throat as he watched Shane’s silhouette sink down onto him, not stopping once. It was tight and startling hot after the cold of the water and air, and Ryan gripped at Shane’s hips without thinking, straining against the urge to move.

Shane hung his head down, his fingers spread on Ryan’s chest for support, before he shuddered and relaxed forward, hands slipping up Ryan’s shoulders until he was spread out above him. He was a warm, damp weight, shadowed and familiar and terrifying and all Ryan’s.

It was enough to make Ryan reach up, to pull Shane’s head down to his. Their kiss was slow and wet; a filthy, deliberate tangle of tongues, as unhurried as each gentle roll of Shane’s hips. Ryan trailed his fingers down Shane’s back before he planted his feet and thrust upward, firm and slow.

Shane let out a noise that was nearly a whine, head tilted as he panted against Ryan’s mouth. He wasn’t often in this position. He preferred to be on his back and Ryan liked him that way just fine. It gave Ryan the opportunity to take care of everything, to give Shane anything he wanted.

But there was something thrilling about Shane’s weight pinning him down into the yielding surface of the sand, the harsh breaths that mingled with the crash of the ocean and the drag of Shane’s cock on his stomach as he lost all coordination and began to rut forward to find the last bit of friction he needed.

Ryan got his hand in between their bodies, grasping Shane’s cock just to hear the man’s strangled grunt. He sped up bit by bit, his sweat mingling with the mist of the of surf, the burn of his muscles working nothing compared to the tight heat he was fucking into.

Shane wasn’t able to do more than gasp out Ryan’s name before he came, spilling up Ryan’s chest. Feeling Shane shudder and fall apart on top of him spelled the end for Ryan as well. His groan was loud and unabashed as he came barely a heartbeat behind Shane.

Slumping forward, Shane practically laid down on top of Ryan, dramatically sighing like he had just run a marathon. Ryan couldn’t bring himself to care, since he was more than content to lay there for a few minutes. Or an hour or two. He would close his eyes for a bit, that sounded like a good idea.

“The tide is coming in,” Shane murmured far too soon, sitting up against the arms that Ryan didn’t remember putting around his back. “Up and at ‘em, Bergara.”

Ryan opened his eyes against his better judgement, sleepy amusement making him laugh when Shane clambored off of him with a disgusted noise. “Just let me sleep here, come back for me in the morning.”

“This spot is going to be under water in an hour. And if anything is going to drown you, it’s going to be me,” Shane said with tired cheer. It was obviously a joke and yet the words sent a shiver down Ryan’s spine.

He would never forget the helplessness of that moment in his youth, his lungs burning and his vision going dark, when he had nearly succumbed to the uncaring strength of the ocean.

A thin wave, a precursor of the incoming tide, crept up on him. The lick of foam against his naked leg and arm, the shock of cold on his skin, and the salt spray of the surf landing on his face were potent reminders that he was no match against the depths of the water.

He accepted Shane’s hand and was pulled to his feet with a strength that, in that moment, did not feel natural. For no more than the space of a blink, the sharp teeth in Shane’s fond smile reflected the light of the stars.

Ryan stared up at him, scared, in love, and all too aware that he was not the top of the food chain. “Yeah,” he said quietly, his words ghosting through the crash of the waves behind him. He didn’t even remember what he was agreeing to. “I think that’s true.”

He willingly stepped forward into Shane’s hold, lost in the reflection of water in his eyes.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to myhiddenknowledge! I hope you enjoyed it! It was fun to return to this world
> 
> And thank you to my betas and friends, you keep me going when I need a nudge <3
> 
> Feel free to come talk to me at [Mephsation](https://mephsation.tumblr.com/)!


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